A Lifecourse Study of Stem Family Women in Rural Japan: A Comparison of the Changes over Three Generations

Abstract  The aim of this study is to clarify the changes in the lifecourses of rural stem family women, and how they are influenced by society and the family. Our lifecourses are characterized by the sequence of events in our lifetime. Women's lifecourses are mainly influenced and varied by the experiences of marriage, childbirth and childcare.
We used the event of marriage as the basis for finding how the lifecourses of three generations of women had changed. The Mother generation (MI refers to the parent; the Wife generation (W) refers to the child; and the Grandchild generations are the daughters (F) and Son's Wives (SW).
Our findings revealed that the Agriculture Continuation type lifecourse had decreased with each generation. About 80% of (MI women helped on the family farm before marrying into another farming family, while this type no longer existed in the grandchild generations. The (W) women were the first to start working in various jobs (outside the farm) after graduating from their last schooling, but they usually quit their jobs after marriage. Many (SW) women followed this same pattern. Many (F) women also worked outside the farm after their last schooling, then became full-time housewives after marriage. Few women in the grandchild generation worked in agriculture when they were young.
The lifecourses of (M) and (W) women followed basically a fixed pattern, but began to diversify for the grandchild generations, as their order of life events also diversified. Correlation and changes were found between society and individuals.